


A Change in Entropy

by peanutbutterpacifist



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Communication, Fix-It, Homelessness, M/M, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Past Abuse, Romance, contains approx 90 percent less murder
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2020-11-25 17:07:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20915585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peanutbutterpacifist/pseuds/peanutbutterpacifist
Summary: What if Alex defied his father before the hand-smashing incident and then everyone is better at communicating and is less dickish to each other and therefore manage to solve the “Noah problem” before it becomes a really big problem and then everyone goes and gets milkshakes? Canon divergent starting when they’re teenagers, basically midway through “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.





	1. Part One

“Michael!” 

Michael’s lounging in the cab of his truck, a physics textbook in hand, head resting against the door handle, booted feet kicked up and resting in the opposite window. At the sound of his name, he turns to look out the window. Immediately a small smile twitches at his mouth. Something about Alex Manes does that. 

Alex jogs up to the truck. Michael quickly sits up and puts down his book. “Hey, I tried to find you earlier. I went by the UFO emporium but you weren’t there…” He trails off and his smile disappears when he sees the fear and desperation on Alex’s face. And the fresh bruise on his collar bone. He knows in an instant who gave it to him, and he knows there are probably more just like it hidden under that black long-sleeved T-shirt. 

“What did your dad do?” He asks quietly. 

Alex follows Michael’s gaze and grimaces in acknowledgement but gives his head a quick dismissive shake. Whatever important thing he has to say, whatever the source of his fear, it isn’t his own injuries. 

“Listen, I’ve been looking for you all day. You have to hide, or get out of town. Dad found out someone’s been staying in the shed and he--” Alex stops suddenly and looks around. Michael is parked in one of his usual spots, tucked behind the high school football stadium. There is the distant shouts of whistles from a sport team practicing on the other side of the bleachers, but no one was nearby. That doesn’t seem to satisfy Alex, however.

“Can we go for a drive or something? My dad or brothers might come looking for me here.”

Even under the circumstances, despite how unhappy Alex looked, Michael couldn’t help getting a little thrill at being asked to go for a drive alone with him.

“Sure,” Michael says, trying to be casual. “Hop in.”

Alex is silent and fidgety for a few minutes, chewing the black polish off his nails and glancing out the back window periodically as they make their way out of town.

“OK, what has got you so spooked?” Michael finally asks. “I won’t go back to the shed, OK? No problem. I’ve had to give up on crash pads before.”

“That’s not enough. Dad’s like, completely off the deep end. He found some of your, uh stuff. You had washed some of your clothes and had them hanging to dry…” he trails off, looking embarrassed.

“Oh shit. Your homophobic dad found a strange boy’s underwear in the shed his gay son hangs out in.”

Alex nods. “I tried to tell him we never, uh, did anything. Not that it’s any of his business. It doesn’t matter though. He says he’s going to kill whoever it is. He means it, Michael. I thought for a minute there he was going to kill me. I’ve seen him angry before, but this. I don’t know what would have happened if my brothers hadn’t been home.” His voice starts shaking and he stops to take a deep breath.

They reach city limits and kept going out into the desert. Michael knew without looking that the fuel gauge was close to E, so he knew they couldn’t go far, but he wanted to go somewhere secluded, where Alex could feel safe for five minutes.

“I didn’t tell him your name, but it’s only a matter of time before he figures it out. My brothers are home for the summer, he’s going to send them out like- like fucking spies, to ‘gather intel’ and find out who the mystery boy is. That’s the kind of thing he does. This town is too small, someone will have seen us together.”

“You’re really that scared your dad is going to come after me?” 

Alex nods. “He’s done things before, I think. People he doesn’t like, bad things happen to them. Sometimes, they disappear. I’ve overheard some things he’s said to my brothers. So if he says he’s going to--” he breaks off, rubbing his face. “I’m so sorry,” he chokes out after a moment, tears threatening. “If I hadn’t told you about that stupid shed you wouldn’t be on his radar.”

“Hey.” Michael reaches out to give the other boy’s shoulder a squeeze, careful to avoid the bruise. “It’s not your fault your dad’s a psycho.” 

They drive for the next ten miles without talking, finally turning off onto a side road that wasn’t much more than a track and followed it to an old rock quarry. A known party spot, but this afternoon it’s deserted. He weaves the truck around the trash and broken glass to park next to a rock wall that loomed a bit over the truck. Not just for the shade, but to give Alex something to mentally put his back up against. It was the type of thing Michael did instinctively wherever he went--like walking into a room and always picking a seat in that faced the door.

They sit for a few moments in the quiet after the engine shuts off. Michael leans on the steering wheel and tries to act relaxed and unhurried, giving the other boy some time to collect himself. He stares through the windshield and idly watches the dust trail from their journey as it slowly settles and dissipates. 

“You’re not acting scared,” Alex finally says. His voice is rough, but the edge of panic is gone.

“I’ve dealt with abusive assholes before.” He wishes, fleetingly, that he could explain just how well he could defend himself if needed. He’d never had to use his powers directly against anyone, but it was always an option. His ace in the hole. But he couldn’t tell Alex. No matter how drawn he felt him, that was something he needed to keep a secret.

“Not like my dad. He doesn’t just have a temper. He’s even worse when he’s had a chance to plan.”

Alex looks so miserable. Michael has the strongest urge to hug him. Instead, he goes for another shoulder squeeze. To his surprise, Alex leans into the touch, sliding over until his head rests on Michael’s shoulder and Michael’s arm completely encircles him. Michael’s pulse speeds up, and it’s a struggle to keep his breathing calm. He allows himself to lean his head against Alex’s hair. How could this feel so natural when it’s the first time they’ve really touched? 

“I’m more worried about you. Is it even safe for you to go home?”

Alex sighs deeply, breath ghosting against Michael’s throat and causing his heart to skip a beat.

“I don’t know. If he was going to kill me, it would have happened last night. He might have come up with some worse punishment by now, though.”

“Then don’t go home.”

Alex sighs again. “I’ve tried running away before. Dad always finds me in a couple days, and, well, lets just say he makes me regret it.”

“That was when you were alone. Now you have me. I know all the good hiding spots.”.

Alex lifts his head in surprise. He studies his face for a long moment, long enough that Michael feels himself start to squirm. This is the closest he’s ever been to those eyes in good lighting. He’d thought they were deep brown, but the late afternoon sun is revealing hidden flecks of green and gold and god they were beautiful, and god he was in it deep, wasn’t he? 

Finally, Alex says, “if you were smart, you’d get as far away from me and my crazy family as you could. Why stick your neck out to help me?”

“It’s not complicated. I like you, OK?” 

Alex actually laughs a little at this. Not in mocking way, but surprised and maybe even happy. 

Emboldened, Michael continues. “That’s what I was going to tell you today, when I went looking for you at work.”

He looks down at Alex and Alex is smiling up at him through those long lashes. Before he can think too hard about what he’s doing, Michael leans down to kiss him. Alex responds without hesitation, as if, despite the circumstances, he was waiting for this. His mouth is soft and eager and right away they’re so in tune to each other, it’s uncanny. Lips open to each other simultaneously, tongues sliding against each other with the perfect push and retreat; He slides a hand behind Michael’s neck and the other along his ribs. The kiss heats up quickly, and pretty soon Alex’s hands are roving everywhere within reach.

Suddenly, Michael twists his hands in Alex's hair and pulls away a little so he can look at him. They're both breathing hard and Alex has the cutest little frown of concentration and Michael wants to dive back in and never stop but he feels compelled to say something before the moment passes, so he blurts out, "I’m sorry it took so long to say something. I didn't even really know I was into guys until that moment we had in the shed a few days ago."

Alex smiles again, and Michael really wants to do whatever it takes to keep this boy smiling.

“I was so mad at myself for trying to kiss you that night,” Alex says. “I thought I totally misread the situation."

“You didn't, at all. I just… I didn’t expect it. I wasn’t ready for how much I wanted to kiss you back.”

“How about now?” Alex's gaze keeps drifting to Michael’s mouth while his thumb makes little circles in the skin underneath his earlobe. The combination is kind of driving Michael crazy. “You seem a little more ready now.” Michael answers by leaning in for another kiss. Alex’s hands resume their delicious explorations and Michael follows his lead. They’re both trying to press closer together, but it’s awkward, so they shift positions and he presses Alex back against the seat. At first he goes eagerly, both hands in Michael’s hair, pulling him down on top of him, but suddenly his whole body stiffens and lets out a hiss of pain.

“Oh, shit, sorry.” Michael sits up in a hurry.

“It’s not you, it’s my ribs. Dad--No. You know what, I’m not letting him ruin this for me. I’ll just have to be on top.”

Michael’s eyebrows shoot up to the sky and Alex immediately blushes and stammers. “I just mean, if you want to keep, you know, messing around for a while longer, I can’t be against the seat.”

“If it hurts that bad, we don’t have to.”

“Look. I’ve had a pretty crappy couple days, and it would be nice if I could just make out with a cute boy for a few minutes without thinking about my dad.”

Michael smiles. “C’mere,” he says and slides his hand behind Alex’s neck, pulling him close. They only break off their kiss when Alex tugs at the hem of Michael’s shirt and Michael quickly takes it off, and then helps Alex remove his. His heart is absolutely racing, the feeling of skin on skin when they come together is electric. He wants to wrap his arms completely around the other boy, but he has to be careful of the bruises. Luckily, there are still lots of fun places to touch him that aren’t injured: his neck and shoulders and arms, anywhere, really.

Alex slides his hand down Michael’s chest and gives a gentle little push and Michael slides down and swings his legs onto the seat while Alex crawls on top of him. It’s clumsy and not very comfortable; the seat isn’t long or wide enough; Michael ends up half propped up against the door, with the handle digging into his shoulder blade and the steering wheel blocking his arm. He barely notices: Alex is now spread out over him, their thighs entwined, bare chests sliding together and god everything about Alex feels so good. 

Michael takes advantage of the new position and slides both hands down to Alex’s ass and gives it a firm squeeze. Alex laughs breathlessly into Michael’s mouth before going back in for a deep kiss. In a small part of his mind that wasn’t in the moment--and for Guerin, there was always a part of him that couldn’t focus on the moment--he thought about the thousand small ways this day might have gone differently. Would he have ended up in this beautiful moment making out with this guy--the guy he just yesterday admitted to himself he had a crush on--if even one small thing had gone differently?

Alex gives a small, experimental thrust of his hips against Michael’s thigh. His cargo pants aren’t hiding how aroused he is, and Michael is in the same state, but even more uncomfortable due to his tighter jeans. A little moan escapes him. He gives a hip thrust of his own, and Alex responds immediately, moving against him firmly. He grabs a handful of Michael’s hair and pulls his head back a little so he can plant kisses down his throat. Michael shivers and gasps and grips him tighter around the waist, grinding against him with more force. They both increase the rhythm of their movements, and then Alex opens his mouth and starts using his tongue on the sensitive spot just above his collar bone. 

“Um, Alex if you keep doing that--” but even as he starts to say it, it’s too late. He gives a last, loud groan and shudders convulsively. A second later, Alex buries his face in Michael’s neck to smother his own gasp of pleasure. Their bodies still, and they lay like that for a while, each catching their breath. Finally, Alex lifts his head.

“I think I’m supposed to be embarrassed, but--”

“--that was pretty hot.” Michael finishes, and they both laugh. Michael marvels at that. He’s had sex with a few girls, but he’d never felt this easy and unashamed as he did with Alex. There was definitely a lot more uncomfortable silences afterward. 

They clean up as best they can with the copious piles of fast food napkins Michael keeps stashed around his cab, and then by unspoken agreement, lay back down together. They’re quiet for a long time. Michael feels like he could stay like this forever, despite the awkward way they’re laying and the fact his right leg is starting to fall asleep. Reluctantly he’s the one who breaks the silence. “I hate to ruin the moment, but if you’re going to run away today, there’s a couple things we need to do before your dad notices you’re gone.”

Alex levers himself up to look at him. “You really think it could work?”

“I’m the most successful homeless teen I know.” He keeps his tone casual, but his stupid heart is racing again. He can’t believe how much he wants to help and protect Alex. Say yes, he urges silently, don’t go back to that asshole, and don’t try to do this alone. I’ve done it for years, and it sucks.

He smiles. “Michael Guerin, lone wolf, taking in a stray. Never thought I’d see the day.”

“You’re mixing your metaphors there, bud.”

“Well, unlike you, I’m not in AP English.” The smile melts away. “And I won’t be. I can’t go back to school, dad will definitely look for me there.”

“Well, if you’re really ready to do this, we can talk strategy. I have some ideas. You might even be able to graduate on time. If, that is, you’re OK with a little forgery. And if your dad doesn’t report you missing.”

Alex snorts. “He won’t. ‘Manes men take care of their own problems.’” He says this last bit in a gruff voice, obviously quoting his father. 

Michael feels a hot flush of anger. He almost wishes Jesse Manes did show up. He’d love to give him a taste of his own medicine. But Alex doesn’t need revenge fantasies right now, he needs concrete plans. He clears his throat. “The first thing you should do is empty your bank account, if you have one. As soon as he realizes you're gone, he’ll probably lock it. Do you have your phone on you?”

“Yeah. I didn’t even think… he can track it, right?” He pulls out his backpack and starts frantically digging through it, looking panicked again. Michael puts a hand on his arm.

“It’s OK. We’ll go back to town and put it in someone else’s car. If he is tracking it, that will throw him off for awhile.”

Alex stops his frantic searching, and nods, taking a deep breath. “OK, let’s go find an ATM. I have a little saved from working at the Emporium. It won’t last long, but--”

Michael gives his arm a squeeze to forestall any more panicked over-thinking. “Let’s just get through the next few days, first. We’ll figure out the rest later.” He starts the truck and pulls back out onto the road. 

By the time the sun is setting, they’ve managed to empty Alex’s savings account, hit the thrift store for a few changes of clothes for both of them, and the gas station to fill up the Ford and get some bottled water and granola bars. All without incident, but the last two errands Michael did alone while Alex hid under a blanket on the floor boards of the truck. Even Michael thought it was overkill, but Alex is seriously freaked out. He doesn’t breathe easy until they’re out of city limits again.

“I’ve been thinking about where to stash you for the next few days. I think we should only consider out of town destinations for now. Top choices are the old barn on the Harris ranch. Pro, no one ever goes there; con, it’s mostly open to the weather and at night you can’t have any lights ‘cause they can be seen for miles. Second choice is the old turquoise mines. Pro, much more private, con, sometimes other kids hang out there. And lastly, my personal favorite: the junkyard. The owner is old and half deaf and mostly stays in his office and his guard dog is easily bribed with food. Con, you’d have to hide during the day or customers might see you.”

“How about the mines. Sounds like the most private. If anyone is already using them, we can go somewhere else.”

“Sounds like a plan.

Before Michael can get back into the truck, Alex stops him with a hand on his arm. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d be fucking doing right now if you weren’t helping me.”

Michael leaned in for a quick kiss.

“Like I said, it’s not that complicated.”

And for a little while, it wasn’t.

There were no signs of vehicles when they pulled up to the mine, so at first Michael thought they were in the clear. But just as they walked in the entrance, he could see flickering lights and hear someone moving around in one of the side tunnels, muttering in Spanish. He motioned to Alex to stay put and he crept toward the faint flicker of candlelight.

He poked his head around the corner, sighed in relief and stepped into the alcove, scraping his feet so as to not sneak up on her. “Rosa?”

Rosa spun around, eyes narrow and angry. “I can’t find it.” She blurted in English.

“Can’t find what?” 

“What do you care?” She spun around and went back to frantically tossing things around the cave.

“I mean, I guess I don’t... but I would like to use this cave, so if there’s something I can do to get you to leave sooner…?”

“It’s a backpack, a white backpack. I need it. It’s got a bus ticket and I was leaving tonight…”

Michael starts to ask another question, but they are interrupted by a scream coming from the direction of the cave entrance. They both jump, then Michael rushed back down the tunnel. At the entrance to the mines, he skids to a halt, shock freezing him in place for half a second. Standing there is Isobel, her eyes--something is wrong with her eyes--and she’s gripping a shocked-looking Alex by the throat. 

Time seems to slow for Michael. He’s vaguely aware that huddled behind her are two girls he recognizes from school. He has no idea why they’re suddenly here, or why his sister is attacking Alex, but he can feel a black, murderous rage radiating from Isobel. 

He’s never had the same psychic connection with her that Max does, only flashes now and then when she’s under stress. This is different, this is something deadly and unfamiliar and menacing. And then her hand starts to glow. Alex screams, and Michael doesn’t hesitate: he blasts her with as much power as he can muster. She goes flying backward into the darkness and hits a sand bank with thud that seems to reverberate in his own bones. He feels a flash of pain and surprise from her, and then nothing.

Alex falls to the ground, coughing and clutching his throat, but breathing. Alive. Michael stumbles over to him, the nausea already rising bile in his throat. “Are you OK?” He reaches out but Alex jerks away, eyes full of fear and confusion. Michael sees the rainbow handprint Isobel left on his throat. 

“What the hell was that?” Alex rasps getting to his feet and backing slowly away from Michael.

“Yeah, what the hell was that?” Rosa is behind him now. How much did she see? How much did all of them see? Everything is happening too fast. Michael darts his eyes around, looking between Rosa, the two staring girls, and Alex. Not just one, but four potential witnesses to the secret he’s been keeping his whole life, a secret that could kill him and his siblings, one of whom apparently just went psycho and tried to kill someone, and is now lying very still on the ground. 

A small, wordless noise of distress escapes him and he stumbles over to Isobel. He has to at least know if she’s alive. He’s never directly attacked anyone with his power before. He falls to his knees next to her and checks: she’s breathing. What now? His head hurts, but he knows he needs to call for Max, and he doesn’t want to risk him not picking up his phone. He closes his eyes and calls out to Max with all the strength of his mind. This is Isobel’s thing, not his. It’s something he’s never tried before, and the effort coming so soon after using his telekinetic power hurts his head as if he’s being stabbed with a hundred ice picks. After what feels like an eternity, he picks up a faint feeling from Max that tells him it probably works. He stops with a gasp and opens his eyes. 

His vision swims and the stabby-icepick feeling is replaced with more of an ax-stuck-in-the-top-of-his-skull feeling. He’s dizzy and even more nauseous, but he can’t rest yet. He drags himself to his feet and goes back to where all the witnesses are.

Rosa is talking to the two girls. She looks pissed instead of scared, which seems like a good thing. The girls--Jasmine and Kate, he remembers their names now-- are shrinking away from her instead of him, which also seems like a good sign. Alex has disappeared, and so has Michael’s truck. Michael feels his heart give a painful little bump, but he can’t blame him, and he can’t think about him yet, he has to try to focus on one problem at a time.

“What are you doing here, why did you bring Isobel here tonight?” he demands of the two girls.

“Excuse me? She brought us. She gave us some molly, for free, and promised to take us to an awesome party.” Kate says. 

“This is not awesome. Not at all.” Jasmine adds. 

Michael realizes with relief that both of them have blown pupils and are swaying on their feet. If he can get them out of here before they have any more time to think about what they saw, he probably doesn’t have to worry about them revealing his secret powers to anyone.

“Hey,” Rosa says, rounding on Michael. “I was talking to them. I’m trying to get them to tell me where they took my bag.” 

“I don’t think they’re in much of a state to help.”

“Well. Great. Now I’m stuck here.” He realizes with surprise that she has tears welling in her eyes. He doesn’t know Rosa well, but she has a reputation of being someone who never cried. “I had a plan. I was going to get clean. Then your asshole sister had to go and ruin it.”

“Wait, what? Does she even know you?”

“Why do you think she was here tonight? She’s like, obsessed with me or something. She asked me to run away with her. I don’t get her at all. And you know what, I don’t want to.” She pauses, and looks out into the dark. “Did you, like, kill her?”

His heart sinks. She did see. Why isn’t she freaking out the way Alex did?

“No, she’s just knocked out. I think she’ll be fine.” I hope, he thinks. There’s still the whole she-tried-to-kill-Alex bit to work through, so ‘fine’ was quite the relative term.

“Would you think I’m a bitch if I’m not totally happy about that?” Rosa says, and he realizes why she’s not freaking out. She’s too focused on her own shit. She doesn’t have room for my sci-fi alien drama. Maybe she’s not processing what she saw, maybe she just doesn’t care. Either way, he was suddenly a lot less worried about a potential witness to his powers, and a lot more worried about what was going on with Isobel.

“Rosa, Isobel never told me or Max about you. Do you know why she’d bring Kate and Jasmine out here and try to hurt Alex?”

“All I know is, I told her a few days ago that Kate and Jasmine were harassing me because I wouldn’t party with them anymore. And what does she do? Bring them and some drugs to my hideout knowing I’d be here. It’s like she was trying to trigger me. This is exactly why I can’t stay in this fucking town anymore.”

Michael’s brain is starting to fog. Rosa isn’t making sense. He has to find out what Isobel is up to, but more importantly, he has to do something about these girls who saw him use his powers, but it’s getting harder and harder to think. Max, him, and Isobel had talked a few times about what they’d do if someone found out their secret. They’d always assumed that they could have Isobel get into their minds and convince them they imagined things. But if there is something wrong with Isobel, that wasn’t an option. 

Fuck it. There were only really three options left: kidnapping, murder, or letting them all go and hope for the best. And he was way too tired for the first two.

“Rosa, do you have a car?”

“Yeah. Parked on the other side of the hill. Why?” She looks suspicious.

“Will you take these two into town and drop them off at the nearest party? It’s almost end of the term, there’s bound to be a couple house parties happening tonight.”

“Why the fuck would I do that? They’ve been treating me like shit for weeks. They can walk home for all I care.”

“Here.” Michael pulls out his wallet, pulls out all of the remaining cash and shoves into her hands. “This should be enough for a bus ticket plus some travel snacks. Just please drop them off in town first. They’re in no condition to walk. I can’t take care of them and Isobel right now.”

She eyes him for another moment, then crams the money into her back pocket and turns to go without another word. He waits until she has dragged the stoned girls down the road and out of sight before bending over to vomit. Then he moves a little distance away from the mess and lets himself crumple to the ground.


	2. Part Two

Michael doesn’t faint exactly, but he does spend a long time just lying in the cold dirt, mind drifting. His head is still pounding, but it feels distant.

Finally, Max appears above him and helps him sit up and he comes back to himself. It helps when Max also presses a bottle of acetone to his lips. Michael drinks the whole thing in one go. It’s dark outside now, he’s a little surprised to note.

“Are you OK? What happened?” Max asks.

Michael drops the bottle and coughs a few times. “Isobel,” he rasps, pointing. 

Max runs over to her and kneels down, cradling her head in his lap. Michael staggers over to sit next to them. “What is she doing here? Did she have another blackout?”

He tells Max everything, leaving out the details of what happened between him and Alex. That didn’t matter anymore, anyway.

The first thing Max asks is, “You just let them all go?” Underneath his shock and worry is a little anger. Michael gets it. They’ve talked about this. Never use your powers, no matter what. Not even to save a life. He’s also not in the mood for it.

“Look, I know our secret is a big deal to you, but I’m not the one who let the cat out of the bag.” He points at Isobel. “She’s the one who drugged and kidnapped two girls and tried to kill someone with her glowing death hand.”

“You don’t know for sure--” Max starts to say.

“Yes,” Michael interrupts forcefully, starting to get angry. The image Alex dangling from Isobel’s hand would be seared into his brain for a long time. “I do know. You should’ve seen her face, Max. And I could feel this… weird feeling coming off of her. She wanted to kill Alex. She was hungry for it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she was planning to kill those girls, too.”

“OK, OK,” Max looks down at his twin. “That’s not her, though. You know that.” He looks at Michael almost like he’s pleading with him. Michael swallows but doesn’t know what to say. He’ll never be as close as the two of them are to each other.

Max picks up Isobel and carries her to the car and settles her in the back seat. Michael trails after him and slumps in the passenger seat as Max starts the engine and turns on the heater. He shivers as the hot air blasts him. He didn’t realize how cold he was until he felt something warm.

“OK,” Max repeats. “We can figure this out. Tell me again what Rosa said?”

Michael goes over his brief conversation with Rosa again. Max shakes his head. “It makes no sense. I mean, she’s been acting weird lately, but I’d know if Izzy was really in love or obsessed--if she felt that strongly about someone, I’d know. She wouldn’t be able to hide that from me.”

“If you say so, dude. You may have to consider that she’s better at hiding things from you than you think.”

Max ignores this comment. “What if this has to do with her blackouts? I never could feel anything wrong when they happen, only once she wakes up again. And we don’t know what she did during--” he stops short and they look at each other. 

“Prom night,” they say in unison. 

“She had a blackout, and where did she go?” Michael prompts.

“To hang out and make graffiti with Rosa,” Max replies quietly.“We thought that Rosa was just her dealer. So, what, she’s a different person while she’s blacked out? Like she has split personality disorder or something?” 

“But the thing she was doing to Alex… where did she learn to use her powers like that? Last I checked, she’s not the one who can kill with her hands,” Michael says, and immediately regrets his phrasing as Max gives him an anguished look. “Sorry, I know you hate to talk about that, but we can’t avoid this subject any longer.”

“I know, I know,” Max says, running his fingers through his hair. “I need to take her home, and I need time to think, and you’re practically dead on your feet. Let’s get some rest and talk tomorrow. Can you drive?”

“I think so.”

“Can you get Izzy’s car back to the house? Then you can sleep in my room tonight if you want, since…”

“...since my house was stolen.” Michael says. Max gives him an odd look. “I thought you’d be way more upset about that. Do you want to go looking for him tonight after we get Izzy to bed?”

“No. He’s running scared, if he sees us looking for him, he’ll just run harder.”

“We need to deal with Alex Manes at some point, you know that right?”

Michael sighs deeply, feeling exhausted and numb. “I know.”

“We also need to go to school tomorrow. We don’t want to act suspicious.”

Michael feels some relief to have someone else making a plan. He would never admit it out loud, but he sometimes liked when Max took a leadership role. Kept him from screwing things up himself.

“Assuming none of the witnesses talk, there’s still a chance that all of this will blow over,” Max says before diving away.

Speak for yourself, bro, Michael thinks to himself as he gets into Izzy’s car, remembering the look in Alex’s eyes the last time he saw him. He’s pretty sure that will never blow over.

\--------------

Michael sleeps like a rock, like he usually does when he’s near his siblings. It’s always the safest he ever feels, but he tries to avoid making it a habit to sleep at the Evans’. When he does, he has a system so their parents don’t see him: he sleeps on the floor inside Max's closet so the mess blocks the view from the door and he leaves early in the morning before anyone is awake. 

It’s a long walk to school, made even longer when he takes a detour to walk by the Manes’ house. To his relief, his truck is nowhere nearby. At least Alex didn’t go back to his dad.

His timing is perfect as he reaches the school just as the janitor is unlocking a side entrance. Students aren’t supposed to be inside this early, but Roger knows him and pretends not to see him. He slips into the locker room to shower and change into the clothes Max leant him. They’re too big, but he knows from experience that dirty clothes draw a lot more attention than baggy ones. Except for his wallet and the dirt-caked clothes he had on last night, all his belongings are in his truck, including his notes for the physics test he has to take in a couple hours. Normally, that would freak him out. He needs a good grade on this last test to keep his scholarship to UNM. As it was, he was spending most of his energy trying to not think about Alex Manes, or the way it had felt to kiss him, or how he’d never get to do that again.

Other students start to fill the halls, and Michael blends into the crowd. When Max finally arrives, he shoves a granola bar into Michael’s hand. “You have tests today, you need to eat something.”

Michael doesn’t argue. The truth is he’s starving. Using his powers does that.

He chows down on the granola bar in three bites, and asks about Isobel.

“I managed to wake her up after you left. She’s super groggy, but she’s acting like herself. She says she doesn’t remember anything about last night. She’s staying home sick today.”

“Are you sure she’s not, you know, lying to you?” Michael says.

“No. I’m sure of it.” Max glances at Michael’s damp hair. “You could have showered at the house you know.”

“Yeah, sure, now’s a real good time to risk your mom calling the cops on me,” Michael says, rolling his eyes. 

“She wouldn’t do that. In fact, if you just let me talk to her about your situation, she might even let you stay until the end of school.” 

Michael scoffs. He hates when Max does that, offering him things he knows he can’t actually have. “Now is not the time to draw attention to ourselves in any way. Taking in a homeless kid who’s barely aged out of foster care is not a smart move. I’m used to this, so don’t worry about me, worry about Izzy.”

Max shakes his head, looking a little hurt, but he changes the subject. “I called Liz this morning, she said that Rosa didn’t come home last night. So I guess she did get a bus ticket after all.” 

“You don’t sound happy about that. I’m telling you, she’s too wrapped up in her problems to worry about mine. And besides, who’s going to believe a junkie’s stories about magical powers?”

“I hope you’re right. I still want to ask her more questions about what Izzy and her have been up to. And uh, Liz is really worried about her. I felt horrible for not being able to tell her what I knew.” His voice changes completely when he talks about Liz, which is nothing new, but Michael realizes something.

“Wait a minute. You have Liz’s number now?” He’s rewarded by Max blushing from neck to forehead. Michael smiles for the first time all day. “So I guess that little field trip to the desert was a success in more ways than one.”

“It’s not like that,” Max stammers. “I can’t talk about this now. We both have to get to class. Meet me after school. We’ll go back to the mines, all three of us, and try to figure out what’s going on.”

“Sure thing. Say hi to Liz when you see her next,” Michael winks and walks away into the crowded hallway. His fades quickly though, because as soon as his brother is out of sight, he mind circles back to Alex again. Part of him hopes that Alex just took the truck and drove far away. At least he’d be safe from his dad. Twenty-four hours ago, his worst fear was his secret getting out and ending up locked in a secret government lab; now, it feels like the worst thing is his actions forcing Alex to go back to his abusive family.

The routine of classes and tests, even tests that he has to take without his notes, form a comforting routine however. He’s almost to the point of putting Alex out of his mind when someone grabs his arm in the crowded hallway. 

Maria DeLuca. Alex’s best friend. And she looks worried.

“This might seem like a weird question, Guerin, but have you seen Alex?”

“Alex Manes? I, uh, hardly know him. Why are you asking me?”

“He skipped class today, hasn’t been answering my texts, but I swear I just saw him at lunch driving by the school in your truck.” She sounds accusing.

“You must be tripping, DeLuca.” But it’s too late, something in his face must have given him away. Her eyes narrow. “It was him, wasn’t it? Why the hell would you let him borrow your precious truck?”

Michael eyes her. He doesn’t know her, but he knows that Alex trusts her. And he can tell by the look on her face that she’s about three seconds from yelling at him in the middle of the crowded hallway and that’s definitely attention he doesn’t need right now. “Alright, keep your voice down. I’ll tell you, but not here. Alex’s brothers are apparently lurking around.”

That gets her attention. Her eyes widen and she nods. “Chem lab, five minutes.”

He briefly considers trying to make up a plausible story about why Alex has his truck. In the end, he just blurts out the truth (part of it anyway). 

“Alex is done getting beat up by his dad, so I was helping him run away.” He realizes he used the past tense. He’ll have to watch his phrasing.

She’s surprisingly accepting of this. “OK. Why’d he come to you, and not me?”

“He can’t go to any friends that his dad knows about. You, Jim, Liz, he’d know to look for him at your houses or at the bar or the diner. He doesn’t know me at all.”

She’s looking less suspicious by the second. “That actually makes sense. Good for him. But why would you help him? What’s in it for you?”

“He’s uh, paying me.”

Apparently his reputation as a selfish hardass finally works in his favor because she simply nods. “OK then. How can I help?”

“You’ll have to talk to him about that. I’m just letting him use my truck for a few days.” Yeah, sure we’ll go with that.

“How am I supposed to find him when he’s avoiding all his familiar places and doesn’t have a phone?” 

“I don’t know, DeLuca,” he snaps. “You know him better than I do, figure it out.” She blinks at him in surprise and he stops to take a deep breath. Talking about Alex is proving more painful than he’d anticipated. The truth is, he wants nothing more than to drop everything and help her search for Alex. But Alex definitely won’t want to see him, so he has to leave her to it. And it’s kind of killing him. 

He turns to leave, stops, makes a face, and turns back. “You might try looking at the old barn out at the Harris ranch, or the junkyard. Those are the two hiding places I told him about.” If you find him, tell him…” tell him what, Guerin? “...tell him I need my truck back.”

It takes an embarrassing amount of energy to hold back the tears as he walks away. 

Max is waiting in Izzy’s car right after the last bell. Isobel is in the front passenger seat, looking uncharacteristically subdued. They don’t talk much on the drive, each deep in their own thoughts. As expected, Max takes charge when they arrive at the mines and leads them over to where everything went down the night before. Michael is almost disappointed that there’s no evidence of such a game-changing event--only some distrubed dirt and an empty bottle of nail polish remover to commemorate one of the worst nights of his life.

“What’s the last thing you remember yesterday?” Max asks Izzy.

“Going out the door to school,” Isobel replies. “After that, it’s all a big blank until I woke up in bed this morning.” She scuffs at the dirt with her shoe, looking embarrassed. “These last few weeks, I’ve had a bunch of blackouts. It happens whenever I start thinking too much about you both leaving me.”

“OK, I gotta ask: do you think you’re going to have one right now, just talking about this?” Michael asks.

“I don’t think so. They seem to happen when I’m distracted. Plus, I’m pretty amped on caffeine and adrenaline right now.”

“Izzy, we’re sorry for not believing you about prom night,” Max says.

“Yeah. We were dicks,” Michael adds.

“Yes, you were, and you’re forgiven.” Isobel says, matter-of-factly. “Let’s just focus on figuring this out. Michael, you’re sure that you felt, like, another presence when… when I was...” she stutters to a stop, clearly upset at what she almost did to Alex.

“Yeah. I’m not as connected as you two are, but I definitely felt something, and it definitely wasn’t Isobel Evans. In fact…” He looks at the twins. “Can Max use his connection to help you remember?” Michael asks.

The twins glance at each other. “Maybe. We’ve never tried that before.”

Michael makes a ‘get on with it’ motion with his hands. They hold hands and close their eyes. Michael fidgets and paces back and forth while he waits. Without anything else to distract him, his thoughts go to Alex. If he’s OK, if Maria found him, what he might say to her if she did find him. What Max meant when he said they’ll need to “deal with him.” Though he knows. Use Izzy’s powers to make him forget. That would probably be best for everyone, including Alex, but what else would Alex forget in the process? If it all worked out, and Izzy could make Alex forget just those few minutes, then what? How could Michael go back to dating him--dating? Michael Guerin doesn’t date people--with such a huge secret between them?

Long minutes pass, until finally the twins both gasp and stagger, opening their eyes.

“Well?” Michael says.

“It worked,” Izzy says, looking dazed. “There are buried memories from when I’ve been blacked out. I’ve had a whole, like, second life the last couple months. With Rosa Ortecho. I really am in love with her?” Izzy says this last part like a question, frowning.

“It’s not you, Iz,” Max says. “It’s someone else, inside your mind, taking over whenever you have a blackout or fall asleep. I can feel him, just like what Michael described. These hidden memories all feel like” 

“‘Him’?” Izzy asks.

“Yeah, I think so.” 

Michael nods in agreement. “That fits with what I felt, too.”

“How’s this possible?” Isobel asks.

“Are you kidding me?” Michael says, exasperated, looking between both of them. “Guys. It’s obviously another alien. One with powers like both of you, but a lot stronger and a lot less keen on the whole concept of consent.”

“How? And why haven’t we met them before now?” Max says.

“Clearly, if they’re willing to take over the body of a teen girl without asking and then try to murder someone else… they’re probably not the type to walk up and introduce themselves.” Michael says, still exasperated with both of them. Sometimes he felt like the only one who actually thought about their powers, their alienness, instead of shoving both concepts deep into the dark corners of their brains the way these two did. Then again, their human lives were a lot nicer than his. It gave them blind spots, and that wasn’t good for their long-term survival.

“Let’s say you’re right. What do we do about it?” Max says.

“Use your mojo. Find this asshole the way you can find each other when you’re separated.”

“What if they--he-- takes over my body again?” Isobel asks.

“I’ll knock you out or something. It worked before.”

“This isn’t the movies, Michael. This alien was strong enough to hold Alex Manes with one hand. Clearly, he’s got more power than any of us. Maybe he’ll be ready for you this time.”

“Well, I managed to hurt him last night. I can do it again if I have to.”

“No, Michael’s right,” Isobel says. “There’s no point in waiting. Let’s find out where he is. We can decide what to do from there.”

Once again, they hold hands and close their eyes.


	3. Part Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alien magic and healing hugs

This time, they were only “gone” for a couple of minutes before Max opens his eyes.

“Michael, we need your help,” he pants, looking strained.

“Help? How? Jedi mind tricks are not really my forte,” Michael says, but he reaches out for Max’s hand anyway. He closes his eyes. Nothing happens at first. He’s not sure what to do, so he gropes toward the place in his mind where he “called” for Max last night. It’s like feeling his way through a room with no lights on, when all of a sudden something clicks. It feels like the ground drops out from underneath his feet. He’s sucked down (or was it up?) into another plane of existence. He doesn’t remember opening his eyes, but he could suddenly see again. He was suddenly standing next to Max and Izzy in the middle of the desert. The landscape was familiar but also not: the sky was too high, the light too bright, and the colors were subtly wrong.

A figure was sitting nearby, bent over as if in pain, features oddly blurred, indistinct, but the menacing darkness radiating from it--him-- was unmistakable. 

“That’s him. That’s who I felt last night. He’s the one who tried to kill Alex.” Michael says.

As soon as he says (thinks?) the words, he realizes they’re redundant. He feels his sibling’s agreement, (well, the feeling is more like, ‘yeah, no shit Michael’) and in that same moment he also realizes the alien is currently trying to kill them. With his mind. Michael can feel that the other alien is weak, and struggling, but his invisible attacks still hurt. Pulsing, sharp pains in the center of his chest.

“What’s he doing?” He gasps.

“Trying to give us heart attacks, we think,” Max says, voice tense, and with the words, Michael also picks up on emotional nuances from Max’s thoughts, his worry and fear that this alien was going to hurt his brother and sister. He could feel some of Izzy’s feelings, too. Fear, guilt, anger, disgust that her body had been used by this monster, but she doesn’t say anything.

“He’s trying to do something to Izzy. I think he’s trying to take over Izzy’s body while she’s still awake.” Max says. 

“Wait, so this dude now has super extra delux mind control along with the glowing death hand?”

Izzy nods, her whole body tense. She has one hand raised as if to ward off the invisible attack. “He’s strong. And if he takes over my body again and uses it to kill, he’ll get so much stronger.”

“We have to stop him now,” Max is shouting now. “Can you do anything Michael?”

Michael’s never been in someone’s head--and whose head are they currently in, anyway? Isobel’s? Max’s? The other alien’s? A separate astral plane?--he’s certainly never tried to use his power in such a place. Everything feels wrong, but he tries it anyway. He reaches for that invisible energy, gathers it, and throws it at the figure sitting in the sand. There’s a scream, pain like a knife through his skull, and everything goes dark. All three of them wake up back in the real world, gasping and gagging. Michael falls to his knees and vomits.

“Thank you Michael, I think you knocked him out. Again.” Max says.

“You mind filling me in and what the hell just happened?” Michael says, wiping his mouth.

“He calls himself Noah. Before he attacked, we managed to ask him a few questions. He didn’t want to answer, but his mind was leaky, we picked up some answers anyway. He’s been taking over Izzy’s body whenever she has a black out. He’s been doing it since we were kids. You remember--” He stops and glances at Isobel. She still looks dazed, bent over leaning her hands on knees. 

“I’m OK. Tell him the rest,” she says, waving a hand at them.

Max doesn’t look convinced. He keeps his gaze on Izzy as he talks to Michael. “You remember that night we went camping. The man who attacked her.” He swallows convulsively. Not Max’s favorite memory.

“Yeah. Of course.”

“Apparently, Izzy sent out a psychic scream that night that got Noah’s attention. He’s been stalking her ever since. Especially this last year. He’s been using her body to spend time with Rosa. He was always planning on killing someone anyway, killing gives him power, but he picked those girls to impress Rosa. You were right, he was about to kill Alex, just for being in the way. He needs the energy. He’s almost strong enough to break out of …” he trails off, frowning, and looks at Isobel. “Break out of what? Prison? I didn’t understand that part.”

“A pod,” she says. “He’s in a pod, somewhere underground. Not far from here.”

“I knew it was another alien.” Michael says.

“Except his pod is different from ours somehow. He’s awake and he can’t get out.” She looks at Max in horror. “Oh my god. He’s been awake and trapped this whole time? Since the original crash?”

“That’d make anyone insane. But that doesn’t excuse his rapey, murdery behavior,” Michael says.

“Yeah, we need to do something about him before he wakes up and tries to possess Izzy again,” Max says.

Izzy shudders. “I can find him, but then what?”

“We put him in one of our pods,” Michael says. “What? Why are you looking at me like that? He’ll be asleep in there, he won’t be able to hurt anyone. They’re in a secure place, no one’s found them in all these years. It’ll give us time to think of something else.”

Max’s lips are pressed into a thin line. He looks like he wants to disagree, or say something disagreeable. Michael doesn’t have to have psychic powers to guess what that disagreeable idea is.

“What? You think you could live with yourself if you killed some stranger in his sleep? Besides, you’d be killing the only other alien we know. Maybe one day we could wake him up and get some answers about where we came from.” And how to get back there, Michael thinks, but doesn’t say out loud. Yet another thing he couldn’t discuss with his siblings. They had no interest in leaving this planet.

Max makes a frustrated sound and runs his hands through his hair. “You’re right. And it’s not like we can call the cops.”

Finally thinking like an alien, Michael thinks to himself.

Then they all turn at the sound of another vehicle approaching.

“Oh,” Isobel says, sounding confused. “It’s him.”

“Him who?” Max starts to ask, but then the vehicle comes into view. It’s Michael’s Ford, moving slow, hardly raising a dust trail.

Isobel’s staring down at her hands. “I can feel him.”

Michael wants to ask some follow up questions, but now the truck comes to a stop next to Izzy’s car and he finds he can’t look away from the figure that gets out of the cab. Alex stands there for a moment, hand resting on the truck door handle, just watching the three of them.

“Well, that’s one less person to track down I guess,” Max says.

Michael takes a deep breath and walks over to him. He stops a few yards away, giving plenty of space between him and the other boy. Alex’s expression is unreadable, but he’s not acting scared or disgusted. He’s wearing some of the clothes Michael picked out for him from the thrift shop, with the addition of a scarf around his neck. Which meant he never went back to his house. And there’s no posse of federal agents with him, which was also a good sign.

Michael waits for him to speak, but instead, after a second of hesitation, he comes at Michael in a rush and grabs in him a tight hug. It takes a second for the stunned Michael to respond, but when he does, he puts his arms around him just as tightly. It feels very, very good to wrap his arms around Alex’s solid warmth again. They stay like that for a long time, during which Michael can’t help but let his fingers run through Alex’s hair just a little.

“I was so worried you’d leave town or something. I’m glad I found you,” Alex says quietly in his ear. “Sorry I stole your truck.”

“Uh, don’t worry about it,” Michael replies, wonder and confusion in his voice. He pulls back to look at him. “Look, Alex--” but Alex holds up a hand.

“Before you say anything, we need to talk. All of us.” He looks over Michael’s shoulder at the other two, and Michael turns to look as well. He flushes a little when he sees the looks on their faces. Isobel’s jaw has fallen open and Max eyebrows have just about disappeared into his hairline. 

Max clears his throat. “I didn’t realize you two were--”

“Yeah, well, get over it,” Michael interrupts, gruffly. The truth is, intense hug session or not, he doesn’t know what the two of them were at the moment, and he doesn’t really want to have that conversation in front of his siblings.

Michael and Alex walk over to the twins and they all stand in a circle. He’s eyeing Isobel warily, but doesn’t seem scared to stand near her.

“Consider me mostly caught up on the situation,” Alex says. “I’ve been listening into your conversation for awhile.”

All three siblings exchange looks. Alex unwinds the scarf from his neck and they all stare at the rainbow-hued mark on his throat. Izzy is nodding slowly. “The handprint,” she says. “We’ve got a psychic connection. I should have noticed earlier. I’ve been a bit distracted, I guess.”

“Yep,” Alex says, putting the scarf back on. “I’ve been getting these weird whispers in the back of my head since this morning. Voices that sounded like Isobel’s voice, and sometimes Max’s. Very informative whispers. And then a little while ago, I was sitting in the truck by the side of the road when suddenly there was a flash of light and it wasn’t just whispers: I could see and hear everything that Izzy was seeing, when you all were confronting Noah in that weird place. Lucky I wasn’t driving or I would have ended up in a ditch. As soon as I was able to drive again, I came straight here.”

“Uh, sorry. We didn’t know that would happen,” Max says.

“I get it, none of you have practiced with your alien powers very much. You don’t know everything about how they work.” He says it matter-of-factly, like he’s commenting on the weather.

Michael sucks in a sharp breath. There it was: the cat is well and completely out of the bag. He glances at Izzy and Max. She’s rubbing her hands together nervously, and Max looks like he wants to either punch something or puke.

“I’m not going to tell anyone,” Alex continues. “And yeah, I know you don’t believe me. And since I really don’t want you to mess with my mind--yeah, I know about that, too--” he takes a deep breath, finally showing some nervousness. But he also looks determined. He nods at Izzy. “Take me to that weird place in your mind and just ask me. I can’t lie in there, can I?”

“I don’t need to,” Izzy says softly. She looks at Max. “I can feel his intentions through our connection. He’s telling the truth.”

“How can you be so accepting of this?” Michael bursts out, staring at Alex. His tone is more harsh than intended, but this entire conversation feels surreal. Never in any fantasy he’s ever had did he picture any human reacting this way to finding out their secret. His entire life is spent moderating his expectations, constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. He hates the way he’s starting to get his hopes up. He can’t believe it could be this easy.

“I know I freaked out last night, but I’ve done nothing but think since then. Nothing’s really changed,” He’s staring intently at Michael as he says this. “You’re just you, plus a little jedi magic. And then there’s that whole thing where you saved my life, and the lives of those two girls, too.”

“It was my fault you were in danger in the first place,” Michael says.

“How is any of this your fault? Seems to me all of you are just trying to live your lives and it’s this Noah guy who’s trying to kill people. Which is the other reason I’m here: I want to help.” 

“I’m sorry, you want to help us stop the murderous alien psychopath who almost killed you?” Max sounds even more incredulous than Michael.

Alex shrugs, “I don’t have powers like you, but you seem like you could use all the help you can get. Plus, I don’t know if you heard, but I recently dropped out of school. I’ve got some time on my hands.” 

Michael feels a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. He shakes his head and looks at Max. “Well, what are we waiting for? We don’t know how long Noah’s gonna be knocked out, and it’s getting late. Let’s stop arguing and get this show on the road.”

“Max,” Izzy says quietly. “He already knows everything, and we’re all exhausted. He’s right. Let him come with us.”


	4. Part Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cuddling happens

They all head for Max’s Jeep, which, unlike Michael’s pickup, has room for all four of them. Max grabs Michael’s arm and pulls him aside. He waits until Alex has climbed into the Jeep and shut the door before saying in a low voice, “that’s a nice speech he gave, but when this is all over and Izzy has her strength back, we’re still going to have to have her use her power on him. You know that, right?”

Michael yanks his arm out of his brother’s grip. “No, I don’t know that actually. ”

“Look, I get it. I bet it feels good right now, that someone you care about knows your secret and is OK with it, but it won’t last. The minute that handprint fades, he’s going to freak out again and tell someone, maybe even his dad. If Izzy uses her power before that happens, at least she could convince him to leave town. Go somewhere where he’d be safe from his dad, and where no one knows our names.”

“Not gonna happen,” Michael says, and tries to walk away, but Max grabs his arm again, starting to look angry.

“You think I haven’t wanted to tell people in my life? You think it doesn’t kill me that people I care about don’t know about this important part of me?” 

“Well, maybe you should tell them, Max. Liz for example. She seems pretty cool. Smart, too. Maybe she’d handle it better than you give her credit. Maybe it’s time to stop living in fear.”

Max looks like Michael just slapped him across the face. “So you just think I’m a coward? You remember the last time someone saw you use your power? You ended up with burn scars in the shape of a cross all over your body.” 

Michael swallows. “Alex is nothing like an abusive foster home, Max.”

“Yeah? What happens when he finds out what happened on our fourteenth birthday? He doesn’t know about that, does he? You know what, I am afraid, but not for myself, for you. You and Iz are the most important thing in my life. Everything I do is to protect you.”

Michael doesn’t have a reply, so he turns away and goes to the Jeep. Alex gives him a little smile as he climbs into the backseat next to him, and Michael smiles back, feeling a warmth in his chest spread outward to his fingertips despite his unease.

He pushes Max’s words out of his mind. He knows he’s probably right. The problem--the thing he can’t tell him-- is that he doesn’t care. He’d blow up the damn world for the chance to just sit next to Alex Manes and have him smile at him like this. That’s maybe not healthy, and certainly is very selfish, but there it was. 

\--------------

Max drives them down the road, following the directions of Isobel, who acts as an alien compass, eyes closed head turned to the West, every now and then pointing. The weather seems wrongly cheerful for their task. The sun is bright and warm.

Alex and Michael stay quiet in the backseat. Partly because the soft top has a lot of road noise, and also to keep from distracting Isobel, but mostly because they had too much to say that needed to wait for some privacy.

Michael feels tired from using his powers. His stomach is sour after puking, but he can't help snatching glances at Alex--OK he’s staring at him. The bruise peeking out from his shirt collar has darkened to a deep purple, and though the handprint is beautiful, its alien rainbow hue probably hides a mundane bruise underneath. Michael wishes he had his brother’s power. He’d make all those bruises go away. He wants to heal all of Alex's wounds.

After an hour of driving along dusty back roads, Michael suddenly realizes where they are. "We’re going to Foster Ranch."

Both twins give a start and exchange looks. “You’re right. Why didn’t I think of that?”

Alex looks puzzled. “That name sounds familiar. What's so special about Foster ranch?”.

They’re all silent for a moment. “It's where we crashed down,” Michael finally says.

“You’re telling me that story’s real?”

“Parts of it anyway,” Michael says. “Where’d you think we came from? Mars?”

“Nah, you seem more of the Krypton type but you know, haven’t really had much time to consider it, Guerin,” Alex says sarcastically.

“It makes sense he'd be here,” Max says, ignoring the boys in the back seat. “But it’s weird our pods were hidden so much further away.”

“Maybe we had help and he didn't,” Michael says. Max doesn’t reply. Michael has bought up the idea before over the years, but Max hates talking about it. It’s obvious someone hid their pods, but who was that someone, and where did they go? Were they abandoned and left to the mercy of the humans, or did their benefactor die or get captured? Too many questions for Max, it was easier to believe they were the only survivors of the crash and that their only responsibility was to each other.

Alex looks intensely curious but doesn't ask anything more, probably sensing the vibe the siblings are giving off. 

Michael takes over giving Max driving directions, pointing him down a dirt road that’s little more than a four-wheeler track.

“How do you remember how to get here so well?” Isobel asks. “I haven’t been back here in years.”

“He works here every summer, remember?” Max says.

Michael looks out the window and doesn't say anything. He's been here way more often than Max knows.

They come to a locked gate and Michael picks the rusty padlock with the ease of long practice. Another ten minutes down the pitted dirt road and he tells Max to stop. They’ve arrived, but only someone very familiar with local history would know the remains of an alien craft once lay scattered and burned here. Most of the public were told the crash site was many miles to the north. No sign or structure marks the spot; It’s just another dusty patch of desert. The only sound comes from the scattered mesquite shrubs rustle in the breeze. Tpring grasses turn the landscape a vibrant green that will only last a few weeks before the scene settles back into its normal palette of browns and yellows. Michael knows this because he’s been to this spot in every season. Studied it under every possible weather condition. He could find it in the dark.

It's surreal to be here with other people, let alone with Alex Manes.

“He's this way,” Isobel says and they follow her over a rocky ridge and down into a shallow ravine. She stops, looks straight down. “There,” she says. 

Michael sighs and scuffs the dirt with his boot. He figured he’d need to use his power again, but he dreads it. Sure enough, as he closes his eyes and starts to dig away at the rock below their feet, the pain in his head grows. His head is exploding with pain by the time he breaks through into a little cavern. But he's still the first to jump down into it, eager to see what’s inside despite the pain. All the times he camped out here, all his explorations, and the whole time another alien has been sitting here, just a few hundred yards away.

Max climbs down after him, and the brothers stand and stare at it for a moment. It’s a lot like their own pods: pale blue, and faintly luminescent in the darkness of the cave. Unlike theirs, this one has the dark silhouette of a figure visible inside. It--him--Noah-- is curled in the fetal position, and looks smaller than Michael expected. Sickly, hairless, thin. It would be easy to feel sympathetic for the guy if it weren’t for certain recent murder attempts.

Max gives the pod an experimental shove. It slides across the sandy floor easily enough. “It doesn’t weigh as much as it looks,” he remarks and looks up at the hole they climbed down through. Isobel and Alex are peering down. "I know you’re tired Michael but can you lift the pod out of the hole? I don’t think we can do that without you. Me and Alex can take care of the rest.”

Michael uses the last of his strength to get the pod out of the cave, the lancing pain in his head is almost unbearable. The last thing he remembers is watching it settle into the dirt and then letting go with his power. Strong hands catch him as he slumps to the ground.

When he wakes up, he’s laying on the back seat of the Jeep with his head in Alex’s lap. He sits up in a hurry immediately regrets it. Groans grabs at his head.

“Here.” Isobel passes him a bottle of acetone. It’s half empty, clearly she’s been sipping on it for strength herself. The liquid hits his empty, churning stomach like ice water and he coughs.

Alex touches his arm. “You ok?”

“I will be. I’ve never used my powers this much in one day.” And maybe it’s his exhaustion, but for the moment, talking shop about his magic alien powers with a human doesn’t seem strange at all.

He notices his seat is pushed forward as far as it can go, leaving no legroom. He glances back and there it is: the pod is crammed in the back cargo area, strapped down with bungie coards. The sight is absurd and he starts giggling uncontrollably. It gets worse as he tries and fails to picture Alex and Max working together to lift an alien pod into the Jeep. When the giggles run out, he lets himself pass out again.

They wake him up when they arrive at another familiar and seemingly unremarkable patch of desert: the place where their own pods are hidden. The cave entrance is buried behind several tons of dirt and rock that only Michael (or a backhoe) could move. It’s the only reason it’s remained hidden for so many years.

He leans on Max for the walk over, and then sits down on the ground to stare at the hidden entrance in dismay. “Guys, I really don’t think I have the juice for this.”

“Here, maybe I can help,” Max says, and reaches out to lay a hand on Michael’s temple. With a gasp, he feels warmth and strength flowing from the touch, taking enough of the pain away that he’s able to stand up and dig out the doorway. He lets the other three roll Noah’s pod inside, however, while he rests against the wall.

“OK, now what?” Isobel says, “How do we get him out?”

Max tries to push through the seemingly-fragile surface, but nothing happens. All four of them surround the pod and touch it all over, looking for weak spots, hidden buttons, anything. There’s a hairline crack running the length of the pod, but even it is impenetrable. Eventually, Max even tries punching and kicking it. Nothing happens except him hurting his hand and foot.

“Wait,” Alex says suddenly. “Look.” He’s pressing the palm of his hand to the pod’s surface and one of his fingers is sinking partially into it, as if a small spot has turned to jello. 

“Alex, can I borrow the ring that’s on that finger?” Michael asks.

Alex hands it to him and Michael carefully presses it against the pod. It passes through easily, like the surface had turned to liquid, sending shimmery waves of color dancing along the surface. “Do you know what it’s made of?”

“That one’s silver plated. My only one.” He holds up his hands, showing him his other jewelry. “The rest are cheap pot metal or steel.”

Michael passes the ring to Max and the siblings take turns experimenting with it. They find that if it’s on the tip of a finger, the pod would let the ring pass through first and the rest of the finger could follow for a centimeter or two but no further.

Eventually, Michael gives up and slumps against the cave wall. Max’s touch took the edge off, but he’s still drained. He wants to pace, he feels the inkling of an idea scratching at the inside of his head. He knows there's a way to use this info to get Noah out and into the other pod, but he's so tired and his head is so painful he can't think.

“We'll have to leave this for now,” he rasps. “If I'm going to bury the entrance again, I have to do it now. I'm about done.”

“Sorry, you’re right,” Max says and goes to support Michael under the arms and help him walk out of the cave. “We need to get home before our parents get suspicious, anyway.”

Even with the boost that Max gave to him, Michael still needs help walking back to the vehicle after he’s done re-burying the cave entrance. 

“What if he wakes up and tries to possess me again?” Isobel asks on the drive back to Michael’s truck.

Max shakes his head. “I don’t see that we have much choice but to risk it.” He gives her hand a squeeze. “It’ll be OK, you just have to get through school tomorrow, and then it’s the weekend and I can stick by your side twenty-four seven. Michael is a science whiz, he’ll figure this out.”

“Yeah, no pressure,” Michael mutters.

When they get back to the the mines, Max tries to give Michael some cash but he pushes his hand away.

“I've got some supplies stashed at the junkyard. I’ll be fine.”

Max forces a hug on him, which he returns with an eye roll.

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow. We’ll all brainstorm how to use silver to get ______________

Michael drags himself over to the pickup and automatically climbs into the driver’s side, suddenly feeling shy and nervous around Alex again now that they’re alone. “If you want, I can drop you off somewhere. You don’t have to come to the junkyard with me.”

“I don’t want to go anywhere else,” Alex says quietly. “You want me to drive?” 

“Probably a good idea,” Michael sighs. On any other day, letting someone else drive his truck would be a big deal. Tonight--and because it’s Alex, who’d of course taken good care of it yesterday-- it just feels normal.

By the time they get to the junkyard, the sun is low in the sky and old man Sanders is gone for the day, his office locked and dark. They have the place to themselves. This realization gives Michael a little electric thrill down his spine. Alone with Alex Manes again. All night. If only he weren’t so tired.

He rummages in the trunk of a smashed up Lincoln town car and comes out with a can of beans, a bag of tortilla chips, a gatorade and a half a fifth of cheap vodka.

Alex grins. “I think you overstated the state of your ‘supplies’. How come you didn’t take the money Max offered?”

“Sometimes I’m in the mood for charity, and sometimes I ain’t,” Michael says. “This’ll do until Sanders pays me for the engine work I did last week.” He starts a fire in the fire pit with practiced ease. “That's the trouble with getting paid under the table, it’s always unpredictable.”

“That seems like a common theme in your life Guerin.”

Michael snorts laughter. He pulls up folding chairs for both of them and opens the can of beans and sets it near the fire to heat up. While he waits, he gulps down half the gatorade, dumps vodka into the bottle to fill it back up, then takes another swig.

He offers the bottle to Alex, who raises an eyebrow. "You were practically in a coma a couple hours ago. You sure booze is the best choice right now?"

"Nope," Michael's says still holding out the bottle.

Alex shakes his head, takes the bottle and takes a drink. He winces. "That's awful.”

“Yep,” Michael says, and takes the bottle back for another swig. He opens the chips and starts greedily scooping lukewarm beans into his mouth. After a few hungry bites, he offers the can to Alex. Hobo etiquette meant sharing whatever food you had. Alex shakes his head. 

“I still have some granola bars in the truck. Do you want them? I’d say you earned them after today.”

“Nah. I’ve got free lunch at school tomorrow to get me through. You'll want those tomorrow. You'll be stuck here all day” If you decide to stay here, Michael thinks.

The two of them stare into the fire for awhile. Dark is falling, and Michael knows without looking the first stars will be appearing overhead. He can name them all.

“Can I ask you something?” Alex asks and Michael thinks, here we go.

“How did your brother and sister end up in suburbia and you end up sleeping in your truck?”

“You just learned I'm an alien with super powers and the thing you want to know about my is my sad, human childhood?”

Alex shrugs. “That's just what you are. I want to know more about who you are.”

“Alright, but I’ll give you a little of both. Me, Isobel, and Max, we don’t have any memories before those pods spat us out eleven years ago. When they first found us, we looked like seven-year-olds, so that’s the age we were assigned. We could walk and feed and dress ourselves, but we couldn’t speak or read or write, and we all had weird mannerisms. I, for example, had a habit of drawing strange symbols all over the walls and throwing temper tantrums whenever someone tried to clean them off. Max and Isobel mostly just huddled in corners and cried or stared into each others’ eyes for hours on end. The Evanses walked into the group home planning to adopt one normal kid and they ended up leaving with two, slightly odd ones. They're good people, I’m not mad at them for leaving me there. Hell, I’m grateful that I’ve never had to worry about Max and Isobel. At least until recently, he thinks to himself. 

“Where did you go then?”

“A string of terrible foster homes. Finally got back to Roswell when I was eleven. It was also a terrible home, but by the time I was fifteen I wasn’t spending much time under that roof. They didn’t care as long as the checks kept coming to their address. So, I was free of them, and I got to be close to my brother and sister again.” He takes another swig from the gatorade bottle. 

“You’re kind of lucky to have some family that obviously care about you. My brothers…” He trails off, shaking his head. Michael passes him the bottle and he takes a drink.

“Yeah?” Michael prompts, not letting him get out of it. “Go on. Tell me about your tragic childhood.”

“Oh, let’s see. Mom left when I was little, and I basically haven’t seen her or any of her family since. Dad comes from an entire line of abusive dickwads, and my older brothers worship him and think I'm a freak and that tough love is the best kind of love.”

“Ah yes, I’m very familiar with the concept of tough love,” Michael says and offers Alex the bottle again.

Alex takes another long pull on from the bottle, making a face. “You know, I feel safer hanging out with you and your brother and sister and risking death by psycho alien then I ever felt at home.” His gaze as he looks at Michael is intense, so open and earnest that Michael’s stomach does some weird gymnastics.

Michael swallows nervously. “So I guess that means you still want my help to hide from your family?”

“Did I not make that obvious?” Alex says, making a sweeping gesture with his arm that seems to say, I followed you to a remote location alone, duh. “It's weird. That Noah guy scares the shit out of me. But it's like I have more determination since last night.” He touches his neck absently. The scaf has slipped down, and a hint of rainbow sheen reflects the fire light. “Like there are bigger problems out there than my fucked up family. Problems I might actually be able to help fix.”

Michael raises the bottle in a mock toast, “to fucked up families, and maybe being able to fix problems once in a while,” and takes one last drink. Michael wants to stay up all night talking, but the vodka is is the last straw for his exhausted body and mind, and he’s afraid he’s going to pass out again at any moment.

Speaking of vodka, it’s probably the influence of it that makes him stand up and blurt out, “would you sleep with me tonight?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Alex says with a smile.

Michael assumes they'll mess around maybe even have sex, but they're both so drained from the events of the last couple days that five minutes after settling in together in the pile of blankets in the bed of the pickup--both of them fully-clothed against the chill of the high-elevation night--they're both asleep. Not before Alex has a chance to wrap his arm around him and plant a kiss on the back of Michael’s neck. That was certainly a first for Guerin. It feels natural as breathing.


	5. Part Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst and cuddling, cuddling and angst

The next morning, Michael wakes up first, his internal clock sharply honed from years without reliable alarm clocks or caretakers. Sometime in the night he rolled over and he now finds himself face to face with Alex. He lets himself look, really look at him. He’s so relaxed, lacking his ever-present line of tension between his eyebrows. He almost looks like a different person asleep. His eyeliner is smudged and there are streaks of dirt everywhere but that doesn't stop Michael from wanting to kiss him. Not just kiss, but plant kisses all over his face.

The urge is uncharacteristically sweet and sappy. It's something a lover would do, a boyfriend, but he can barely even think that last word. Michael Guerin doesn't date. He goes on dates; messes around; has fun, sometimes sex, but certainly never sleeps all night with someone and then wants to keep cuddling with them in the morning. 

It’s screwing him up. Instead of kissing Alex, he gently shakes his shoulder.

"Hey. Sorry man but I need to get to school.”

Alex stirs and stretches like a cat--it’s fucking adorable--and opens his eyes. His face immediately breaks out in a smile that lights up his whole face and he leans in for a quick kiss before Michael can react. It temporarily short-circuits all his catastrophizing. He kisses him back. Neither of them brushed their teeth last night, and the taste of booze lingers on both their tongues, but he doesn’t care. As reluctant as he was a minute ago, he’s suddenly just as enthusiastic now. Alex slides his hand along Michael's waist, one fingertip brushing skin is enough to send an electric thrill through Michael's whole body. He shivers and clutches at his sleeve. He feels a flush heat up his cheeks, a mirror to the heat pooling in the pit of his stomach. 

As he moves his hand to cup behind Alex’s neck, the sleeping bag falls off sending a draft of cold air that makes them both yelp, but not slow down. He keeps thinking about what happened in the rock quarry -- was it really less than two days ago? -- the way Alex’s skin had felt against him; his hands, his mouth-- things that Michael had tried to put out of his mind, assuming he’d never feel them again. But suddenly, here he was again. Alex, literally lying in his arms. 

Despite constantly overthinking things, Michael Guerin can be very good at living in the moment.

He slides his hands inside the front of Alex’s shirt, wanting to touch every inch of him despite the cold. Alex does the same to him, and for a moment their arms are tangled. Alex laughs breathily into his mouth and it’s just about the sexiest thing he’s ever experienced. The kisses get deeper, more urgent. 

Michael can’t help himself: he shifts until he’s on top, still careful not to press Alex down onto the bruises on his back. Instead, he pulls out of their kiss to sit up and straddle Alex’s thighs, using both hands to attack his belt and zipper. Once that task is complete, he pauses, suddenly nervous. "Is this ok? Can I...?

Alex nods and slides his hands down Michael’s thighs and gives them a squeeze. His eyes are wide and dark. He sucks in a breath when Michael reaches into his pants and touches him for the first time and then stops breathing completely when Michael ducks under the sleeping bag and takes him into his mouth.

Michael’s never sucked a dick before, but he likes to think of himself as a diligent student, a hard worker in all fields, and this is Alex after all. He would do anything for him in this moment. His world narrows to just this task. Alex immediately starts writhing underneath him and making the most delicious sounds that spur on Michael’s efforts. The sleeping bag falls off again but neither of them notice. Alex winds his fingers through his hair, and Michael feels like he could stay like this forever. Then he makes the mistake of looking up. Alex has his eyes closed, head thrown back exposing his throat, and the sight would be beautiful except for that shimmering handprint. Etched there against his skin so much like a bruise, it looks like a warning sign. All of Michael’s worries come crashing back down on him in an instant. 

Distracted, he isn’t ready when Alex comes and he gags and coughs. It feels even more awkward than yesterday in the quarry but again, they both laugh it off in a good natured way. Michael cleans both of them with the corner of the sleeping bag and starts to sit up but Alex pulls him down to his chest, bruises be damned. He lets himself lie there for a few minutes, rising and falling with his breaths, listening to his heartbeat, Alex’s fingers moving slowing through his hair. It should be a perfect moment, but it’s ruined by his racing thoughts. 

“That was amazing,” Alex murmurs. “Have you ever done that before?” 

“No. I've never been with a guy.”

Something in his voice makes Alex sit up and look at him anxiously. “Is something wrong, was that too weird?” 

“No! Not at all, sorry, I’m just thinking of all the stuff I have to do today.” Which is a partial truth.

Alex snorts and pulls Michael for more kissing. “Maybe I can distract you for a little longer,” but after a moment Michael pulls away gently.

“We need to get you set up before Sanders gets here. And I really do need to get to school.”

“You sure? It doesn’t seem fair. I mean,” he continues, shyly, “I'd like to return the favor.”

“Naw. Don't worry about it. I really liked doing that. Another time.” Like after that handprint has faded, he thinks to himself.

They climb awkwardly out of the pickup bed, groaning and stretching. “You sleep like this every night?" Alex asks rubbing at his neck.

“What, next to a hot guy? No.”

He rolls his eyes and gives Michael a playful shove which makes him smile for a moment. He shows Alex where to hide for the day, dragging the blankets and pillow to the old school bus. All the windows and door are blocked by junk, but the aisle in the middle was clear enough to lay down. It was dusty and cramped, but it was totally hidden from view, and out of the weather.

“After old man Sanders arrives, stay real quiet. He doesn’t mind me sleeping on his property, but he wouldn’t tolerate anyone else. And we don’t want any customers noticing you and it getting back to your family. Sorry it'll be such a boring day. My advice is to try to sleep through it. I'll bring you some books and stuff when I come back this afternoon. I think the only reading material you'll find around here is titty magazines.”

Alex grabs his backpack from the truck and then stands there in front of Michael, both of them suddenly awkward and shy again.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Maria found me yesterday. I told her about us. Not about any of the alien stuff,” he assures him hurriedly, “but I did kind of tell her about, um, the quarry.” 

“Oh,” he says, keeping his voice neutral.

Alex went on. “I didn’t mean to tell her, but she’s my best friend, and when she found me it was before I’d, you know, come to terms with the alien stuff. I was kind of a mess, and I needed a friend. I broke down. She won’t tell anyone, she knows the stakes.” He looks anxious now. “It doesn’t bother you, does it?”

Michael suddenly realizes what Alex is asking. He quickly steps toward him and puts a hand on the side of his face. “There’s nothing about this that makes me ashamed. I don’t want to hide you. If it were up to me, I’d put a billboard in town to let everyone know about us.”

“That seems a little dramatic, Guerin,” Alex says, but his shoulders relax minutely and he smiles.

“Don’t tell anyone else. Right now, our biggest advantage is that no one knows that you know me. If there’s even a hint of a connection between us, your brothers would start looking into me.”

Alex nods. “I know. I’m not likely to run into anyone to tell for awhile anyway,” he says, glancing around the dust-swept junk yard. “Maria said she'd find you tomorrow with some things for me, but I’m sure she’ll be discreet.”

Michael turns to go, but Alex captures his hand, holding it with light pressure. “We both have a lot going on right now, and this is all very new. It’s OK if there’s some weirdness,” he says quietly. “I've never been in a relationship.” 

Michael has no idea what to say, so he gives him a quick kiss and then practically flees to his truck.

For the entire drive into town, that word echoes through his head. Relationship. Relationship. Things feel so good with Alex, so easy. He doesn't trust it, and his mind is more than happy to supply a detailed list of every potential problem and to replay all the doubts he had shoved aside during the last day and night. Max was very right about one thing: The thing that happened--no, the thing they did--on their birthday when they were kids. He can’t be in a Relationship (capital R) until he tells him about that. He has no idea how, though.

He’s never had anyone rely on him the way Alex does right now. That's the scariest part. Michael can't just run away if things got too heavy--Who is he kidding? Things are already too heavy--his dad would find him within days. And it’s just as terrifying as the thought of being discovered and locked in a government lab.

His brain flits through all the other things he has to deal with. Isobel and Noah; his last test today; a big AP bio project due next week which he’s been putting off; college in the fall; hustling more part time work. His thoughts chase each other in circles. It’s a familiar feeling, but . Sometimes his thoughts got so chaotic he felt like he would vibrate out of his skin.

Mercifully, school that day involves only one test and one final paper to turn in. After those, he skips the rest of his classes to spent some time in the music room, playing guitar--Alex’s guitar--and trying to calm down and think. After strumming his way through mindless chords and picking out the melody to a dozen rock songs, he finally manages to calm himself. But he still can’t think of a solution to the problem of getting Noah out of his pod. What about a net or mesh made of silver? Or a solution containing silver ions?

When the final bell rings puts down the instrument and goes into the chem lab to look for inspiration. He stops dead in the doorway. Max and Liz are there, sitting side by side, bent over a book.

Max looks up and gives Michael a Look. “Hey. I was just telling Liz about that thing I’m stuck on with that story I’m writing.”

“Yeah?” he says, carefully. 

“You know, the sci-fi one? With the alien force field that only silver passes through, I just can’t figure out how the hero can retrieve a treasure from inside. I thought Liz could help.”

Michael rolls his eyes and gives his brother a Look of his own. “Yeah, I was also going to help you with that little story problem. Only, I thought you’d give me longer than six hours to think about it.”

“I don't know why it has to be silver, seems silly and arbitrary,” Liz says, flipping pages and seemingly oblivious to the brothers’ weird vibe.

“And expensive,” Michael mutters. He’s already worried that whatever solution they come up with will involve a small fortune worth of silver. He joins them, looking over their shoulder. It’s not a chemistry book like he thought, but the Merck Manual. Why was she looking at a list of diseases and drugs?

“At first I thought maybe the hero could take a bath in silver acetate, but it’d probably be hard to find such a large quantity.” Michael says, playing along. Maybe this would be a good way to hash out ideas. Liz Oretcho was good in all her science classes and was planning on going into bio-chem after graduation.

“I thought about that, too,” says Liz, “plus it might irritate his skin, or maybe evaporate too quickly. But then I thought--aha, here it is,” she points down at the page. “They already make a skin-safe silver compound. Silver sulfadiazine cream is used to treat burns. It’s for hospital use only, so he’d have to steal it probably, but it’d be easy to find in large quantities.” 

Max grins at her and she smiles back. Michael rolls his eyes at the sappiness. He wishes they would kiss already and get over it. She broke up with Kyle weeks ago, and maybe if Max had a relationship of his own he’d stop hassling Michael so much.

“Thank you for fixing my little plot problem,” Max says, “I need to go put that in my notes right away before I forget. Michael, can I talk to you for a minute?” 

“Liz seems… chipper,” Michael says once they’re out of earshot.

“Yeah. Rosa finally called. She really did go into rehab. Liz and her dad are so happy.” Max has that dreamy smile that he always gets whenever he talks about Liz.

Michael clears his throat. “So, how’s Isobel?”

“So far so good. She even came to school today.”

“Good. I assume I’ll be the one emptying out the hospital’s supply closet tonight?”

“I think Isobel should try first. She might be able to get in and out with a lot more subtlety than you. No offense.”

“None taken. I’m fully aware that my patented smash and grab technique is not suited for every occasion.”

Max is barely paying attention to him, he’s staring down the hall in the direction Liz went. “I’ll text you when we have it, we’ll meet at the cave.” He walks off after Liz, like a man on a mission, leaving Michael standing by himself, bemused. 

“Now who’s distracted,” he mutters to himself. He takes a risk and takes Alex’s guitar from the music room before leaving school. He and Alex have some time to kill before need to go the caves, and Michael has an idea about how to spend it. When he gets to the truck, a paper grocery bag has materialized in the bed. Filled with bananas and apples and canned beans and a prepaid phone still in its package. Must be from Maria. She kept her promise.

________

There’s no sign of Alex when Michael pulls into the junkyard. Good. That was the plan, but he ached to see him. If there was a chance Alex might reject him once the handprint faded, he wanted to spend as much time as possible with him before that happened. Part of him feels guilty, like he should keep him at a distance. Another part, the loudest part, the selfish part, says enjoy this while you still can.

Sanders had a job for him, and he grunts in surprise when Michael says he’ll do it tomorrow. He expects Michael to start right away. It's what he would normally do on a Friday afternoon. But he pays him for his work last week

As soon as Sanders was back in his office, he snuck over to the bus and climbed inside with a bottle of water and an apple.

His heart gives a little thrill at the sight of Alex,lounging in the rumpled pile of blankets. He snatches at the water and drinks the whole thing in one go, then attacks the apple like he’s starving. Which, if he only had a couple granola bars since yesterday, he probably is.

"I guess you did take my advice.” 

Alex nods. "I haven't moved all day. Please tell me you’ve come to rescue me.”

“What are you waiting for? Grab all your stuff and let’s go.”

“Where are we headed?” Alex asks once they pull away from the junkyard onto an empty road and he feels safe to sit up normally in the passenger seat.  
“Max and Isobel are is working on the, er, Noah situation right now.” He explains about the silver cream. “I figured we could go hang out at the cave while we wait for them.”  
Alex nods and Michael shakes his head wonderingly.

“What?”

“I’m still amazed at how well you’re taking all this,” Michael says.

“I’m amazed that you’re amazed. I mean, c’mon, everyone our age grew up on super hero stories. Before Izzy woke up and started giving me a psychic alien history lesson, I came up with a lot of theories about what I saw you do, about your powers. Learning you’re aliens in human form is not that weird. Like I said before, I already know enough about you.”

“You barely know me. Maybe I'm just using you.”

"Using me for what? Sex? This all seems a little elaborate to get something you could have had for free, weeks ago." He grins, he actually grins. He knows the secret, he knows, and here he is, smiling and teasing--flirting?--like it’s no big deal. 

He can’t go any further without telling him. He pulls the truck over. The desert stretches out in every direction. The only sounds are the ticking of the engine and the wind in the mesquite.

He turns to Alex, serious, heart pounding with dread. “I need to tell you something.” He takes a deep breath. “On our fourteenth birthday, we camped out in the desert, just the three of us. In the middle of the night, Izzy was attacked--”

“I already know this story,” Alex says.

“Not the whole thing. Me and Max ran to help her we got in a fight with him. Max ended up killing him with his power. Just like Noah tried to do to you. And then I buried his body.” Michael holds his breath.

Alex frowns, looking more confused than shocked or upset. “How is that anything like what Noah did? That sounds like self-defense.”

Michael makes a keening sound and grips the steering wheel with white knuckles, “This is what I’m talking about. You’re taking all of this too well! It’s got to be the handprint. Your psychic connection to Isobel is clouding your judgement. It’s making you like all of us more than you should.” 

“What are you talking about? I thought you said Isobel can’t actually control someone’s mind.” 

“She can’t, but… I just admitted to covering up a murder to you, and you act like I’m talking about littering on the sidewalk.”

Alex frowns, “I’m not making light of this. Clearly, it’s a big deal, but it was also clearly self-defense, right? You didn’t seek out someone to kill. You were kids in an impossible situation. You couldn’t go to the cops, you’d be in a government lab right now if you had. It seems to me you made the best of a shitty situation, just like you’ve done your whole life. Gee, I wonder what that’s like.”

Michael blinks in surprise. Alex is starting to sound angry.

“You need to drop the attitude that no one could possibly understand you. It’s a little insulting, to be honest. I may not be as good in school as the three of you, but I’m not stupid, and my judgement isn’t clouded.”

He stares out the window for a minute, jaw working, but when he looks back at Michael, his eyes have softened. “I’ve had a crush on you since way before this handprint happened. Before I even really knew you, I trusted you. Why do you think I told you about my tool shed?”

Michael stares at him, the sick heavy feeling in his gut is slowly fading, replaced by hope, but he still can’t fully trust his good luck.

“How long until the handprint fades?”

“Few more days, probably.”

Alex shrugs. “Then I guess you can ask me about all this again in a few days. I personally don’t see anything changing.” And he’s looking up at Michael with those bright eyes from under those goddamn mile-long lashes and any bravado or sarcasm his brain was formulating to evade the sincerity behind Alex's words evaporates. He reaches for Alex and kisses with desperation, crushing their mouths together like he needs him to breath.

After an endless moment, they pull apart slightly, just enough to breath. “I still want to pay you back for this morning,” Alex says in a low voice and starts planting kisses along Michael’s throat.

“Hold on, uh,” Michael stutters. “Someone could drive by any minute.” His heart is racing again, but not from fear or dread. They pull apart reluctantly and buckle their seat belts. He lays his hand palm up the seat, and Alex takes it and their fingers lace together. They stay like that the entire drive to the cave. Every now and then, Alex rubs his thumb along the side of his hand, sending tingles up his arm and throughout his entire body.

By the time they pull off the road and park near the secret cave entrance, Michael is in quite the state of distraction and arousal. He barely has time to set the parking brake before Alex is on him, one hand in his hair, the other going boldly straight to where his erection is straining his jeans.

That escalated quickly, is the last coherent thought he has for some time, remembering how shy they were with each other just yesterday.

Some indeterminable time later, they find themselves stretched uncomfortably on the truck’s bench seat again, cuddling as best they can in the small space. “Someday soon,” he murmurs into Alex’s hair, “we are going to treat ourselves to a hotel room.”

“Mmmm… a real bed… and a shower.” Alex groans and looks at his hands, turning them over to inspect the grime. “I can’t wait for a shower.”

“Maybe I like you dirty.”

Alex groans again, this time at the bad joke, and shoves off of a grinning Michael.

Michael hops out of the truck and starts gathering stones to build a fire circle. The afternoon is plenty warm, but they’ll want one later. Alex starts to help without any prompting, and seems to know what he’s doing, constructing the fire ring and then stacking the sticks in the center in a tee pee pattern. 

“Didn’t think a skater boy would know how to make a campfire.”

“Well, most skater punks don’t have a dad who forced them to do wilderness survival exercises starting when they were ten.”

They don’t have any chairs, so Michael spreads the sleeping bag out on the ground for them to sit on. It’s quite dirty at this point--he thinks about this morning with a blush--so a little more dirt won’t hurt.

He brings out Maria’s gifts, and Alex excitedly pulls out the pre-paid phone and sends her a thank you text. And then the guitar, the sight of which lights up his whole face. There’s the reaction I was hoping for.

Alex starts strumming some chords, and then starts in on some mock lyrics. “He was boy, he was an alien, could it be any more obvious?”

Michael laughs and adds his own words as Alex keeps strumming.”One was a punk, one was a stray, what more can I say.”

They both dissolve into laughter. Michael asks for a turn with the guitar and starts picking his way through a different song, one he’s pretty sure Alex will like if he doesn’t butcher it too badly. 

“...There are no raindrops on roses and girls in white dresses  
It's sleeping with roaches and taking best guesses  
At the shade of the sheets and before all the stains  
And a few more of your least favorite things”

When he stops and looks up, Alex is staring at him, mouth agape. “That’s one of my favorite songs.”

Michael ducks his head, nodding a little shyly. “I saw your posters in the shed.”

“I’m not as excited about their new album. It’s good, it’s just different. I guess I just have to listen to it more before I learn to love it the way I do their older stuff.”

“Yeah. you definitely seem more of a punk than a folk rock kinda guy,” Michael says, and starts playing a country song that makes Alex groan in mock disgust and pretend to steal the guitar.

They spend the next couple hours like that, taking turns with the guitar, lost in the music and each other’s company. It’s heaven. He tries to savor every second, to burn it into his memory forever. It’s over all too soon as his phone starts ringing. It’s Max.

“It’s Isobel.” He sounds frantic. “She’s disappeared.”


	6. Chapter 6

Alex takes one look at Michael’s face and his smile disappears and his fingers on the guitar fall still. He leans in to listen.

“Does Noah have control of her?”

“I think so.”

“Can you track her?” He asks Max, phone tucked between shoulder and ear as he puts bags in the back of the pickup.

“No, I think Noah is blocking me.”

“Fuck.” He looks at Alex in horror and they both stand up. Without prompting, Alex packs away the guitar. They clearly won’t be using it for awhile.

“What do you want us to do? We’re at the cave right now.”

“I’ll need help looking for her. Come meet me at the hospital. The back parking lot by the helicopter pad. The last place I saw her.”

“OK. See you in twenty.” He shoves his phone in his pocket and they both start packing up their things without further discussion. Michael dowses the fire with a flick of his hand, too distracted to really appreciate how nice it is to use his powers in front of Alex, or how quickly and naturally that trust settled into his life.  
They climb into the truck and he reaches for the ignition but pauses, looking at Alex. 

“It might be safer if you stay here.” He chews on his lip. “Or wait, maybe not, we don’t know where Noah is going, for all we know, he’d come back here for his pod. I could drop you off somewhere--” he’s starting to babble, and is grateful when Alex interrupts him.

“I’m staying with you.”

They’re both quiet on the drive. Michael is vibrating with anxiety, his own and the ghost of Max’s in the back of his mind. Alex reaches out and takes his hand and he relaxes marginally. He gives Alex a sheepish grin. “Sorry my family drama interrupted such a nice date.”

Alex smiles back, “Oh, so you think that was a date?” He gives his hand a squeeze. “Consider it payback for you dealing with my family drama.”

“But mine has a lot more alien magic and potential death involved.”

The back of the hospital parking lot is nearly deserted, giving the three of them some privacy to talk. Max rushes over to them as soon as they arrive, and starts talking before he’s even turned off the engine. 

“Isobel went by herself to get the burn cream from the hospital. She texted me that she got it, and we were supposed to meet back at the house, but she never showed and she won’t answer her phone.”

“Shit,” Michael says, his stomach churning. “We knew this might happen, but…”

Max nods, his face ashen with worry. “I never should have let her go alone. She insisted. She said I’d mess up her mojo.”

“Shut up, man,” Michael says, grabbing his brother’s arm and giving it a squeeze. “Iz is stubborn plus she was probably right. Noah waking up now was just bad timing. Blaming yourself isn’t going to help anything.”

“We need to find her. Him, I mean.”

“OK,” Alex speaks up. “Think. Where would you go, if you were Noah?” 

For a moment, a flash of distrust passes over Max’s face as he looks at Alex. Michael tenses, ready to defend Alex’s right to be here, be a part of this, but Max is already schooling his expression. He nods and takes a deep breath before speaking. “He’s obsessed with Rosa, he’ll want to find her. But he’s weak. Probably even weaker than he was before when you found him with those girls. He’ll probably want to kill someone. For their life energy or whatever.” He pauses to cast a helplessly incredulous glance toward Michael, as if he can’t believe that phrase came out of his mouth but also realizes these are the conversations they have to have now, if they want to save this situation. “He’ll want to get strong and then go get his real body.”

“Do you think he’d go after those girls again?” Alex says, slowly.

“I don’t know,” Max says. “I don’t think so. He picked them originally just to impress Rosa, right? There’s no reason for him to waste time and energy to find them again right now. He’ll probably just grab the first person who’s convenient.”

“There’s too many sources of easy victims in this town,” Michaels says, darkly. “He could be anywhere.” 

They all pause, horrified. None of them want to say the thought out loud. What if we’re already too late?

“How the hell do we find him?”

“I might be able to help,” Alex says, a little hesitant. He also has a hint of that same tone of voice as Max, like he’s embarrassed to say these ridiculous things out loud. He taps his temple. “I’m still getting, flashes of, you know, psychic stuff. From Isobel. Or Noah.”

Michael stares at him. “Still?”

“Not like before. I can mostly block it out now. It was all pretty loud the day after Isobel --I mean Noah-- tried to kill me--” he gestures at the rainbow mark on his throat, peeking out of the scarf. “--but after I realized what was happening, and had that talk with you guys, it’s like I can turn down the volume if I think about it.” He runs his hands through his hair. Michael is momentarily distracted. God, even under these circumstances, he just wants to kiss him.

“Can you turn the volume back up?” Max asks.

“I think so, but…” he bites his lip (distracting Michael again). “It goes both ways, doesn’t it? This ‘link’? Right now, I don’t think that Noah is aware that I’ve been listening in. If I start fucking around with this connection--”

“--He might be able to tell how close we are to finding him. We’ll never catch up to him.”

“Or he’ll start blocking me the way he’s blocking Max. Or he’ll panic and kill someone faster.”

Max makes a guttural, frustrated sound, throwing out his arms. “Well, we have to try. People are in danger no matter what.”

“OK. Michael says. “I have an idea,” 

\--------------------------------

Fifteen minutes later they’re all piled into Max’s Jeep. Alex is in the passenger seat, blindfolded, a notepad in one hand and pen in the other.

“Are you sure this will work?” Max directs the question at his brother, who’s perched on the back seat, leaning forward toward Alex, just shy of hovering protectively without touching him.

“Of course not. But unless you have a better idea.” He points on the car’s clock. “Let’s just get on with it.”

Max shakes his head. Michael gives Alex’s shoulder a quick squeeze. “You ready?”

He nods. “As I’ll ever be.”

“Remember, no talking or touching him. If Noah does sense him, or whatever, we want to give away as little info as possible.”

Max starts the engine and then cranks the radio up loud enough to hurt their ears. Toby Keith croons at them ridiculously as Alex takes a deep breath and gets started. Michael can tell the second that he stops blocking Noah: he immediately, he tenses and starts jerking his head side to side, as if straining to see something. He starts scribbling on the note pad.

Ciggie smoke... Spilled beer... Sticky floor... Sticky table...Bar? 

Max is already heading out of the parking lot. 

Country music... Sound outside..engine... Motorcycle?

Michael leans in to speak in Max’s ear. “There’s only one dive bar that would have a bunch of bikers there on a weekday. Sal’s, out on three-eighty.” Max gives him a quizzical look, but turns the Jeep around and heads for the highway. The question is evident in his face: how is Michael so familiar with local bars that he’s able to recognize one just from the ambiance. Aside from having had a fake ID since he was fourteen, bar parking lots are a decent place for a homeless teenager to park a truck and get some harassment-free sleep. One of the few businesses where it’s not unusual for vehicles to sit all night.

Alex is still writing: He’s hungry... so hungry… angry… afraid of getting caught while so weak. wait til dark, can get 2-3 victims before anyone notices. Steal one of their trucks. Go to--------

Alex’s writing hand stutters violently across the paper, leaving a dark line. He gasps, recenters his hand with visible effort and scribbles two more words, barely legible: SEES ME before letting out a scream and dropping the pen and notepad. He doubles over, grabbing his head with both hands. 

“Alex!” Michael cries, and reaches for him as he lets out one more anguished cry and then slumps over. Michael pulls Alex back into a sitting position, wrapping his arms around the seat to hold him in place, hands flat against his chest. Still breathing.

“He’s OK,” Michael says out loud, voice shaking. “Just fainted I guess.” I hope.

“Noah didn’t just notice him, he attacked him.” Max says in a flat voice. “Even as weak as he is…” He trails off, clenching his jaw and staring ahead at the road. He presses down on the accelerator.

It takes seven minutes and forty-five seconds to get to Sal’s. Michael knows because he checks the time every few seconds. He tries to shake Alex awake several times on the way, but he remains limp and unresponsive. He can feel his worry beating against the back of his mind. He tries not to imagine the kind of damage an evil psychic alien might be able to do to a human mind. He can’t think about that now. He has to rescue his sister first.

As soon as they pull into the gravel parking lot of Sal’s, they see Izzy’s car. It’s parked crookedly, in the back, like Noah could barely control himself as he arrived. Michael is ready to leap out of the Jeep the moment it stops moving, but Max grabs his elbow. “Wait. We can’t just run in there.”

“What? If we want any chance of still taking him by surprise--.”

“We have zero chance.” Max cut in. “Think about it: Mind control alien, in the body of a pretty girl, surrounded by what I assume are burly biker dudes who are already primed to be white knights? We bust in there and try to drag her out in front of all of them, we’ll get pulverized before we even touch her.”

“What, then?”

Max glances at Alex. “He said Noah wanted to wait until dark. He’d only think that if he wanted to take his victims outside, right?.”

Michael nods, slowly relaxing his white knuckle grip on the door handle. “It’s a small place. There’s only one bathroom in there, and it’s tiny. If he wanted to be discreet, he’d have to lure them outside. You want to try to ambush him when he comes out with a victim? What if he changes his plans now that he saw Alex? It’s risky.”

“Everything about this situation is risky.”

Michael can’t argue with that.

They park in the far corner of the lot, tucked out of sight behind a big lifted truck. Despite the urgency, Michael takes a moment to fuss over Alex before leaving the vehicle. Reclining the seat and rolling up a hoodie to use as a pillow. He avoids Max’s eye as he finishes and shuts the door, embarrassed to have a witness to such a tender and domestic side of himself.

They crouch behind the dumpster at the back of the bar. It’s already twilight, and Michael thinks they probably don’t have long to wait.

“What do we do when and if he comes out here?” Michael whispers, thinking belatedly how half-baked this whole plan is.

“I dunno, you knocked him out before with your mind blast. Maybe do that?”

“I never thought I’d see the day when Max Evans actually asks me to use my alien powers near a shit ton potential human witnesses.”

Max gives him a sour look, and looks like he’s going to respond, but then the back door of the bar swings open with a screech of neglected hinges and two figures stumble out. 

It’s Isobel leading a dazed-looking man by the hand. As soon as the door shuts behind her, she whirls around and grabs the man by the throat, slamming him against the brick wall. He lets out an undignified gurgle. Michael knows he has to move fast, Noah could kill the man in seconds. He leaps up from behind the dumpster and throws a blast of power at them. Both Noah and the man bounce off the wall and fall to the gravel, the man laying in a crumpled heap, Noah on hands and knees. He lifts Isobel’s head and looks up, straight at Michael, and suddenly he realizes that it’s his sister looking at him, Noah has temporarily been knocked to the background. 

“Do it again, Michael,” she rasps. “But not out here--” She presses a finger to her temple. “--in here.” 

“Iz I don’t know how--”

“Hurry,” she says, eyes going wide.

“Max,” Michael calls, grabbing blindly for his brother’s hand. Max seems to know what to do and a second later, they’re once again plunging down, up, sideways into that uncanny space that seems to exist on a different plane. He doesn’t give himself any time to orient to the surroundings. He has a brief impression that Max is beside him, and the shadowy forms of Isobel and Noah in front of him. No questions this time, no speeches, he reaches out for that force he can only feel instinctively. Like before, it’s both like and unlike using his power in the physical world. Before he can overthink it, he “throws” it at Noah. Like before, it feels like he’s throwing a portion of himself. The blast tugs painfully at the very center of his being, and pain explodes in his head at the same time it explodes over Noah’s form.

Everything goes black for a few moments. When he opens his eyes, he’s back in the real world, and Max’s worried face is looking down at him. He’s flat on his back, gravel digging into his back, the smell of sour garbage and piss in his nose. A single star has appeared in the indigo sky overhead. Or is it a planet? Is venus visible this time of year? He feels himself drifting off, but has a nagging feeling he has something important to do. 

“Michael!” Max says, relieved, and gives his shoulders a little shake that rockets pain through his head but also wakes him up a bit. He sits up slowly, coming fully back to himself and puts out a hand for Max to help him get to his feet. Michael sways and groans and puts a hand to his forehead.

“You OK?”

“This whole week is like one long hangover.” He looks around. A few feet away, Izzy is lying on the ground. The stranger, Noah’s potential victim, is lying a few feet away. 

Is she… are they?”

“They’re both alive.” Max bends down next to Isobel and gathers her carefully into his arms, glancing around. “We should leave before someone else comes out here.” He nods his head at the man on the ground. “I don’t know what to do about him. I feel bad leaving him like that, but I don’t know what else to do for him without drawing attention.”

“Alex has a burner phone. We can use it to send an anonymous tip to the bartender after we leave.”

When they reach the Jeep, the passenger door is open, and a figure is standing there, propped up between the frame and the open door.

“Alex!” Michael practically shouts, and rushes over to engulf him in a tight hug, ignoring the flare of pain in his head.

“I felt you,” Alex says, sounding dazed. He pulls back from their embrace to search Michael’s eyes. “Noah was holding me under, and then suddenly there was like this silent explosion, and I was free again. That was you?”

Michael nods and explains what happened while he was unconscious as Max carefully loads Izzy into the back seat. He leans heavily against the car, refusing to let go of Alex’s hand just yet. “Well, we managed to survive step zero of this plan,” he says to Max. “What now?”

“We have to get Noah transferred to our pod before he wakes up again. Michael, go check Izzy’s car for the silver cream. It’s in a black backpack. Alex, if you can walk, go check the dumpster.” Max is back into leadership mode, and once again Michael finds he doesn’t mind it. 

Isobel’s car is not only unlocked, but her purse and keys are lying on the seat. Noah really didn’t give a shit. No sign of the backpack. He glances around quickly to make sure there aren’t any witnesses before starting up the car and driving it over to the Jeep.

“Nothing in the car,” he says, and it’s clear from Alex’s empty hands that the bag wasn’t in the dumpster either.

“Noah probably ditched it in a hurry. We just need to look along the route between here and the hospital,” Max says.

There’s the sound of more motorcycles arriving out front, and some shouts of greeting and gruff laughter. “We need to get out of here,” Michael hisses. 

“Me and Michael can look for the bag,” Alex says. “We can meet you at the cave.”

Max frowns. “You both look like you’re ready to pass out. I don’t like the idea of either of you driving.”

“Well, I’m not thrilled at the thought of you being alone with a psycho murderer,” Michael snaps back. He gives Max a very serious look. “Also, as fucked as this sounds, you should probably tie her up.”

Max looks stricken, but he nods. “This is one fucked up week, isn’t it?” He says. “You know, this was the year, for some reason, I thought I’d be able to graduate and live a normal life. I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking.”

“Hey,” Michaels says, softening his tone. “We still have a chance to walk away at the end of this and still have normal lives. Whatever that means. Let’s just get through tonight.”

“Yeah,” is all Max says in reply as he climbs into the Jeep.

Michael and Alex follow Max out of the parking lot, then split off to retrace Noah’s steps. 

They cruised down the streets as slowly as they dared without drawing attention, both staring out the side windows. It’s almost fully dark, it’ll be hard to spot a black bag unless it’s in range of the headlight, but they both know they have to try.

“Do you really believe what you said to Max? Do you think we’ll ever have normal lives?” Alex asks quietly after they’ve been at it for a while.

“I want to. Even if I’m not sure what ‘normal’ even means.” He throws a grin at Alex, but the other boy looks somber and deep in thought.

“I thought I had plans,” Alex says softly. “Or at least a clear path. Deep down I’ve always just assumed that eventually I’d end up in the military. I was kind of just waiting to see which branch. Anything but the air force.”

“Is that something that you want?” Michael struggles to keep his voice neutral. Of all the things that could potentially mess up this relationship, it hadn’t occurred to him that boot camp might be one of them. 

“I honestly don’t know. I’ve spent so much time and energy just fighting my own family, I never felt like I had room to breath and think about what I actually want. Maybe all my negative feelings about the military are just because my dad’s a dick.” He pauses. “Would it sound weird to say that this week has been one of the best of my life?”

“Don’t know about weird. Definitely sappy, though.”

Eventually they find themselves back at the hospital with no sign of the bag. Michael taps his foot anxiously against the floorboards. “Shit,” he says and checks his phone, but no texts or missed calls from his brother.

Alex puts a calming hand on his knee. “It’s OK, it’s dark, we probably just missed it. Let’s just turn around and drive the route again, we’ll be going the right way this time. Might be easier to spot.”

“Yeah. OK. But we’re getting my truck first.”

They swap out vehicles, hiding Isobel’s car among the cars of long term patients, and then walk quickly back to his truck, still parked alone by the helipad. It’s dark and secluded back here, and Michael has the sudden and irreverent thought that it would be a good make-out spot. He takes a moment to check out Alex from the corner of his eye and feels heat creep into his face. He can’t wait for there to be less crises in their lives. He has so many PLANS for this boy.

Alex has gone quiet and thoughtful, and doesn’t seem to notice Michael’s mood. He doesn’t talk for a few minutes, until he suddenly says.

“Wait. I think we just drove over a huge culvert. Let’s stop and take a look.” He jumps out and runs to look over the edge of the guard rail, then waves at Michael excitedly.

He jumps out, leaving the driver door open and engine running. Sure enough, there’s a black bag sitting in the weeds and mud down at the bottom of the deep ditch. To save time, he uses his powers to bring the bag up to them. He grabs it right out of the air and unzips it. It’s full of little tubs and bottles of silver sulfadiazine. “Thank god,” he says, as he and Alex grin at each other. “Let’s get out of here.”

They only take a few steps across the road when a car comes barreling out of nowhere, screeching to a halt in the middle of the street between them and the truck. It comes so close to them that Michael instinctively throws out an arm to protect Alex as the driver’s side door flies open.

A figure jumps out of the driver’s seat. Michael doesn’t recognize him, but the dark hair and eyes, and the shape of the face are familiar. He glances at Alex and the look of horror and surprise tells him what he needs to know before Alex says in a shocked voice, “Flint?” It’s one of Alex’s brothers. He’s found them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiiii sorry for the long hiatus. It's not dead. I'm just busy and slow. Thanks to anyone still reading this.


End file.
